Disposable dish and base therefor



March 11, 1952 HOWARD 2,588,727

DISPOSABLE DISH AND BASE THEREFOR Filed May '4, 1945 Patented Mar. 11, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPOSABLE DISH AND BASE THEREFOR Kevin E. Howard, Takoma Park, Md. Application May 4, 1945, Serial No. 592,050

1 Claim. v 1

This invention relates to a plate or dish consisting of a base and a replaceable, disposable liner.

Paper dishes for use alone as substitutes for earthenware,porcelain or china dishes from which foods customarily are consumed have not proved to be satisfactory. Generally they areso weak or fragile that they will not withstand handling with the foods on them. Moreover they are so light that they frequently have to be held with one hand while the food is being manipulated with the other hand. Besides they have very low heat capacity and do not retain the heat of the food and cannot be heated to keep the food warm. Moreover, they generally are not grease .and moisture proof and tend to lose their rigidity in use and even to wet through and soil the table or table-cloth.

It has been proposed to support the paper dish on a base so as to give the combination the desired weight, strength and heat capacity but such combinations generally are cumbersome and impractical.

It is apparent that in such a combination of base and liner, the liner must be easily applied to the base, it must remain securely in place on the base while the food is being manipulated, it must be readily removable from the base and it must fully protect the base since the primary purpose of using disposable dishes is to avoid dish washing and at the same time to prevent the spread of disease by contamination from one person to another.

It would be possible to make a paper dish having suflicient strength and weight to serve as a substitute for a porcelain or china dish but a paper dish would be too costly.

An object of the present invention is to provide a paper liner-base combination in which neither the base nor the liner is unduly costly or complex, in which the base is of simple construction and readily may be washed in the event that it should become soiled and may even be used alone without the liner, in which the liner is readily applied to the base, in which the liner remains securely on the base While food is manipulated thereon, in which the liner is readily removable from the base, in which the base has the desired heat capacity and in which the liner fully protects the base against contamination.

My invention avoids any complicated or intricate and expensive construction of the base and any complex shape of the liner which would require highly specialized machinery or manipulation for its production and use.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a plate base and liner combination with a portion broken away to reveal a section;

Fig. 2 is a similar broken perspective view of a dish;

Fig. 3 is an enlargement ofthe fragmentary section which appears in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a broken section of a stack of the liners and;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are broken sections showing three positions of the liner as it moves into, seated position on the base.

Referring to the drawings, I is the base and 2 the liner. The base is of standard construction excepting the bead 3. It may be made of earthenware, porcelain, china, metal, plastic, wood, glass or any other suitable material and is of the customary size and weight of plates in common use. The rise 4, between the central circular flat portion 5 of the base and the flange 5 may be omitted entirely or it may be like that of an ordinary plate or it may be more pronounced so I as to serve to position the liner with respect to the base. It should not in any event make such a sharp angle with the flat portion 5 of the base as would interfere with the cleansing of the base. 1

The rise 1 from the flange 6 to the upper rounded surface of the bead 3 inclines slightly toward the center of the base making an angle of slightly less than with the surface of the flange 6. Its juncture with the surface of the flange should be smooth and slightly curved or rounded in order to avoid a sharp angle which might retain a deposit of food and resist cleaning.

The juncture of the surface I and the top surface of the bead 3 preferably is rounded to prevent chipping and also to facilitate the insertion of the liner in the base.

The bead 3 is suitably rounded and may be substantially circular in cross section from the point where it joins the surface 1 around to the point where it joins the back surface of the plate. It is preferred however slightly to flatten the upper surface of the bead asillustrated.

The liner 2 is shaped to follow the contour of the upper surface of the base as closely as possible excepting the rise 1 and to extend over the bead substantially to the outermost circumference thereof or to a point on the outer surface of the bead 3 opposite the juncture of the surface I with the upper surface of the bead 3. The rise '5 of the liner inclines slightly away from the center of the liner. The diameter of the liner at the midpoint of rise 1' should be approximately the same as the diameter of the base at the innermost point of riseJ. Thus when the liner is dropped onto the base the line of contact of the liner with the base will be at about the midpoint of the rise 1' and at the innermost point of rise 7 on the base. A slight pressure applied on the upper surface of bead 3 of the liner will force it into place on the base, bending the rise 1' of molded to a tight fit.

3 the liner to or toward perpendicular and rotating the bead 3 of the liner so that it will snugly fit bead 3 of the base. Thus the liner can be made without under cut surfaces requiring a special molding or shaping process for its production and it can be easily put in place on the base without touching the food-supporting surfaces thereof. The liner shape also permits them to telescope with each other as shown in Fig. 4. so that a large number can be packed in a small space. The edge of the liner may be plain as indicated at 8 or rolled to form a bead as shown at 8. The latter construction has the advantage that it facilitates separation of each liner from a pile thereof and the removal of a liner from a base and it also increases the rigidity of the liner and reduces warping.

The liner should be made of a good grade of grease and moisture resistant paper or other suitable material and should be fairly stiif and sufiiciently strong to resist tearing or being cut through in the normal manipulation of the food on the plate. A cardboard, coated or sized with a water and grease proofing material is preferred. It is noted however that the structure and composition of the liner constitute no part of my present invention. The production of a suitable liner with respect to stiffness, durability and resistance to water and grease is within the skill of manufacturers of paper food containers.

'In use the liner may be placed on the base manually or for greater speed and convenience the liner may be supplied by a dispenser which will drop a liner upon a base held'under it upon pushing a button. A slight pressure on the liner especially around the outer edge 3' may be necessary to seat the liner on the base if the liner is After use the liner is removed from the base and discarded.

The liner is fully supported by the base and even though it may be softened by theheat and moisture and grease content of the food placed on it there is no unsupported useful area at which it may break or tear and permit food to pass through and soil the base. The Whole top surface of the base is covered so that there is no possibility of the base being soiled and requiring cleaning. Even if food should flow over the edge of the plate and down on the under side of the flange there is no danger that it will contaminate the food of a subsequent user of the plate.

As indicated above, the base is so nearly standard shape that it may, if desired, be used as a dish or plate without the liner. The base may be decorated as is customary and the liner may be decorated in the same style so that the presence of the liner scarcel will be apparent.

The height of the rises 4 and l are variable. With aliner of heavy paper or thin cardboard I prefer a rise of about inch but if both the base and the liner are accurately shaped even a smaller rise of say inch will do. When the liner is made of heavy paper or cardboard and the base or liner or both are less accurately shaped it is desirable to use a deeper rise of say inch so as to be sure that the rise of the liner will engage .the rise of the base in spite of the fact that the liner may notfit the'base accurately.

It is within the scope ofmy invention to use a liner made of material such as synthetic resin or plastic like celluloid so that it may be removed, cleaned and reused. Such reusable liners are inexpensive and a sufficient number of them can be made available to serve the largest number of people to be fed at any meal whereas it would be necessary to have only enough of the bases to serve a single setting of persons. Such liners, being relatively unbreakable could then be washed mechanically and without breakage between meals, or since they are relatively inexpensive they can be discarded.

The bowl illustrated in Fig. 2 is identical in structure with the plate of Figs. 1 and 3 excepting that the rise 4 is omitted. Rise I is again not quite perpendicular, inclining slightly toward the center of the dish, but in this case, due to the slope of the flange of the dish makes an angle greater than therewith. The rise 1' of the liner 2 of the dish slopes upwardly andoutwardly from the perpendicular and due to the slope of the flange makes an angle considerably greater than 90 therewith.

It will be apparent that the invention applies to dishes of other shapes than circular, such as oval, square, partitioned or any other conventional shape.

I claim:

A container comprising a rigid base and a flexible disposable liner, the upper surface of said base having a substantially flat central portion, a first frusto conical portion surrounding said central portion, a second relatively short frusto conical portion extending upwardly and inwardly at only a small deviation from the perpendicular to said flat central portion from the periphery of said first frusto conical portion, and an upwardly convex peripheral bead connected .to the upper edge of said second frusto conical portion, and said liner having a substantially flat central portion, a first frusto conical portion surroundingsaid central portion, a second relatively short frusto conical portion extending upwardly and outwardly at only a small deviation from the perpendicular to said flat central portion from the periphery of said first frusto conical portion and an upwardly convex peripheral bead connected to the upper edge of said second frusto conical portion, the diameter of the second upwardly and outwardly extending frusto conical portion of said liner at the midpoint thereof being substantially equal to the diameter of the upper edge of the upwardly and inwardly extending frusto conical portion of the base before assembly, and when the liner is pushed into position on said base the second frusto conical portion of the base will deform the second frusto conical portion of the liner and thus hold the liner in position.

KEVIN E. HOWARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

